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Loveland church outreach project provides pups to those in need

First United Methodist Church ministry trains rescue dogs

By Shelley Widhalm Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
05/12/2013 08:58:11 PM MDT

Sami Mann, middle, teaches a Level II dog therapy class with her service dog Bravo to Tisha Wernersbach, back left, with her dog Sakora and Sheryl Daniel and her dog Rufus on Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Loveland.
(Steve Stoner)

Adding Bravo to her life will help Fort Collins resident Michelle Fink retain her independence.

Bravo is a 14-month-old standard poodle who is in training to be a service dog through the HA=LO Project, or Helpful Animals = Limitless Opportunities, a ministry and outreach community effort of First United Methodist Church in Loveland.

"When you're someone who has to deal with a lot of pain, you're going to limit your life," said Fink, a high school special education teacher who suffered a spinal cord injury at age 16, causing her to be paralyzed from the waist down. "He's going to open doors and help me with doing life things and things that are harder to do."

The HA=LO Project provides service dogs to those who often are overlooked for receiving such a dog for their seen and unseen handicaps, such as post traumatic stress disorder, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and autism. To fundraise for the project, HA=LO is holding a Celebrate Armed Forces Day and 1980s-Theme Dance on Saturday at the church.

"We need people, and we need money, and we need items," said Cathryn Bray, co-director in charge of administration.

Those items include dog food, crates and veterinarian care for service dogs, which cost an average of $10,000 to $20,000 to train.

Bray, however, is worried because three of the five dogs in service training are missing as of Sunday afternoon. The dogs, who escaped from the home of Sami Mann, co-director in charge of training, include Bravo and two black golden doodles, Piccolo, who is 9 months, and Aruba, who is 5-6 months.

Despite the setback, Bray and the two other co-founders plan to hold the fundraiser as scheduled to raise funds as well as awareness about the ministry.

"Most of the public doesn't even know we exist," Bray said.

HA=LO is a sister ministry of Angel P.A.W.S. Ministry, which was founded in 2009 to offer nonprofessional, pet-facilitated therapy. Trained volunteers take pets into local rehabilitation centers, retirement homes and therapeutic centers to spend time with residents. The pets are considered to be P.A.W.S., or Pets Are Working Saints.

Bray, who also is involved in Angel P.A.W.S., received several requests for service dogs, so she connected with Terry Jester, an animal trainer, behaviorist and breeder.

Jester agreed to co-found HA=LO in 2011 with the support of the church. She breeds purebred dogs for the program, including poodles, golden doodles and Old French bulldogs, and sells those that are not a match for service work.

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